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The prevalence of food quality standards in international trade is constantly increasing and has a growing influence on developing countries. A wide range of literature in development economics has focused on the debate of whether international standards exclude small-scale farmers from high-value food markets. In fact, the evidence is mixed. New debates arise on what conditions small farmers can really comply with, pointing out both threshold capital requirements, on the one hand, and industry structure and institutional environment, on the other hand. Drawing on a microeconomic approach, our paper is a contribution to the literature exploring the patterns and determinants of smallholders' adoption of the food standard. We focus our case study on GlobalGAP adoption by small-scale fresh mango producers in Peru. Based on an analysis of primary data collected on the Peruvian mango sector, we show empirically that a few smallholders are engaged in GlobalGAP certification for a maximum of 3 years. They comply with the standard thanks to the support of exporting companies. Exporters offer the farmers contract farming, which includes technical advice and the annual certification cost. Nonetheless, farmers who are integrating into this high valueadded supply chain seem to be selected on the basis of their proximity to the exporter plant (reducing transaction costs) and their ability to become reliable suppliers over the long term (experienced, specialized, and used to respecting contracts). These farms also must demonstrate their ability to deliver with short lead times (presence of mobile phone, distance to the plant). Finally, the paper underlines the key role of exporters in Peru as intermediaries and organizers in the way smallholders may participate in private standards in agrifood value chains.

A range of the economic development literature focuses on the debate of whether international standards exclude small-scale farmers from highvalue food markets. Nonetheless, when exclusion is pointed out, very little is said about the extent of the problems of such forms of exclusion are. In this paper, we examine how small farmers are affected by their lack of certification. Based on primary data collected to examine the effects of GlobalGAP on the mango sector in Peru, we find a significant number of excluded farmers. These farmers face greater price risk while their bargaining power and agricultural income have decreased.

International audience ; AbstractFair trade (FT) schemes claim to improve food security by generating economic gains for certified households. Previous research has shown that FT-certified households may benefit from higher prices and incomes. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of FT for food security. In this paper, we use qualitative data, cross-sectional household surveys conducted among coffee-growing households in Peru and matching econometric methods to investigate whether economic gains resulting from FT are enough to ensure food security for farming households. Results show that although FT increased the return from certified coffee (prices, production, yields and net return), the extent of the food insecurity facing FT participants remained unchanged. Our qualitative results suggest that farming households use the additional income they receive from FT to pay for their children's higher education as a long-term non-farm investment. This leakage effect raises the question of the effect of FT in the medium and long term from a rural development perspective.

International audience ; AbstractFair trade (FT) schemes claim to improve food security by generating economic gains for certified households. Previous research has shown that FT-certified households may benefit from higher prices and incomes. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of FT for food security. In this paper, we use qualitative data, cross-sectional household surveys conducted among coffee-growing households in Peru and matching econometric methods to investigate whether economic gains resulting from FT are enough to ensure food security for farming households. Results show that although FT increased the return from certified coffee (prices, production, yields and net return), the extent of the food insecurity facing FT participants remained unchanged. Our qualitative results suggest that farming households use the additional income they receive from FT to pay for their children's higher education as a long-term non-farm investment. This leakage effect raises the question of the effect of FT in the medium and long term from a rural development perspective.

International audience ; We consider the content of organic farming and food labels to be an intellectual common-pool resource. However, access to this resource is under threat from a phenomenon of commodification: third party certification, operated by competitive and private bodies, is becoming the only legal way for the public to access these labels. This expensive guarantee system excludes a large part of the communities from which the resource originated. In this paper, we describe an alternative mechanism: the participatory guarantee system. Drawing on Ostrom's approach, we analyze the design principles that explain the effectiveness and sustainability of these systems and we argue that their development contributes to a reconquering of the commons. ; Les auteurs considèrent le contenu des labels relevant de l'agriculture biologique comme une ressource commune intellectuelle. La certification tierce partie privée et payante s'est imposée comme seul outil légal pour contrôler ces dispositifs et accéder à l'utilisation des labels devenus publics. Cette certification coûteuse est à même d'exclure une partie des communautés à l'origine de la ressource et menace son renouvellement. Dans cet article, les auteurs décrivent un mécanisme alternatif, celui des systèmes participatifs de garantie. En s'appuyant sur l'approche des communs d'Ostrom, ils analysent les conditions d'efficacité et de durabilité de ces systèmes, dont le développement participe à un mouvement de reconquête des communs.

International audience ; We consider the content of organic farming and food labels to be an intellectual common-pool resource. However, access to this resource is under threat from a phenomenon of commodification: third party certification, operated by competitive and private bodies, is becoming the only legal way for the public to access these labels. This expensive guarantee system excludes a large part of the communities from which the resource originated. In this paper, we describe an alternative mechanism: the participatory guarantee system. Drawing on Ostrom's approach, we analyze the design principles that explain the effectiveness and sustainability of these systems and we argue that their development contributes to a reconquering of the commons. ; Les auteurs considèrent le contenu des labels relevant de l'agriculture biologique comme une ressource commune intellectuelle. La certification tierce partie privée et payante s'est imposée comme seul outil légal pour contrôler ces dispositifs et accéder à l'utilisation des labels devenus publics. Cette certification coûteuse est à même d'exclure une partie des communautés à l'origine de la ressource et menace son renouvellement. Dans cet article, les auteurs décrivent un mécanisme alternatif, celui des systèmes participatifs de garantie. En s'appuyant sur l'approche des communs d'Ostrom, ils analysent les conditions d'efficacité et de durabilité de ces systèmes, dont le développement participe à un mouvement de reconquête des communs.

Rising consumer interest for ethical and/or responsible products and the growing interweaving of social and environmental issues question the ability of scientific methods to correctly assess social impacts. To this day however, no consensus has yet been reached on relevant indicators to assess social impacts. In this article, we try to identify consistent indicators of social sustainability, based on the study and comparison of well-known sustainability standards currently used in the coffee sector (FLO, ESR, IMO, ETI, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and Globalgap). The choice of relevant indicators is based on their realism and applicability, and on existing consensus among the standards on "minimal requirements" to certify sustainable practices in the coffee sector. Our main contributions to the debate on the choice of significant and relevant indicators are: to identify permanent features and areas of consensus between the different standards studied; and to question the definition of a socially sustainable product.

Resumo: Este artigo analisa os fatores de diferenciação institucional nos processos de certificação participativa de produtos orgânicos. Realizada junto aos Organismos Participativos de Avaliação da Conformidade (OPAC) que operam no estado do Rio Grande do Sul, a pesquisa visava inicialmente responder se eles estariam convergindo para formatos organizacionais e estratégias similares. A hipótese inicial sugeria o isomorfismo desses organismos em virtude de pressões institucionais coercitivas, normativas e miméticas. No entanto, devido à rejeição da hipótese inicial, buscou-se, então, identificar os fatores que produzem diferenciação institucional. Foram examinados instrumentos normativos que regulam a certificação orgânica, os documentos internos de gestão dos OPACs, transcrições de entrevistas individuais e coletivas com stakeholders e anotações de observações das reuniões e procedimentos de certificação. Os resultados demonstram processos de dissociação (decoupling) impulsionados por três fatores principais: ambiguidade e heterogeneidade do ambiente institucional, resistência dos atores às pressões isomórficas e dinâmicas internas de poder relacionadas com o formato de participação social em cada OPAC.

AbstractThe literature on collective action has poorly addressed processes of incremental institutional changes within organizations. This paper helps fill this gap by shedding light on how the community-based management of an organic label has changed following its formal recognition as a 'participatory guarantee system' (PGS). Ostrom and Basurto's (2011) analytical tool is useful to describe the changes in collective rules to address collective action problems that take place in standard-setting and labeling activities. Using original data collected from the Ecovida Agroecology Network – the oldest and largest PGS in Brazil –, we study the multi-scale changes in governance rules from the 1970s until today. We pay particular attention to the links between the institutional consolidation of PGS, its recognition by public authorities, and its adaptation to legal rules. We detail analytical operators indicating whether the introduction of the PGS rules at the national level was bottom-up or top-down. Our findings emphasize how local communities have been able to both adapt their governance system in response to the official arrangements concerning organic regulations, and influence national public arenas where these arrangements are defined. This form of co-management has been accompanied by a significant increase in the number of PGS-certified farmers.

International audience ; The concept of commons is part of the long history of the Moroccan peasantry. Traditionally, many natural resources, such as water for irrigation, collective lands and common pastures or the forests were governed by community principles derived from customary rules, like in the 'agdal' system for example. However, these collective systems have been greatly weakened over the years. Firstly, these organisations, inherited from the traditional hierarchical system of local politics, had produced sometimes unjust and inefficient systems of resource distribution to the advantage of the most powerful. Secondly, rural communities were From rural to urban areas: new trends and challenges for the commons in Morocco Recto running head : THE JOURNAL OF NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES Verso running head : B. ROMAGNY ET AL.

International audience ; The concept of commons is part of the long history of the Moroccan peasantry. Traditionally, many natural resources, such as water for irrigation, collective lands and common pastures or the forests were governed by community principles derived from customary rules, like in the 'agdal' system for example. However, these collective systems have been greatly weakened over the years. Firstly, these organisations, inherited from the traditional hierarchical system of local politics, had produced sometimes unjust and inefficient systems of resource distribution to the advantage of the most powerful. Secondly, rural communities were From rural to urban areas: new trends and challenges for the commons in Morocco Recto running head : THE JOURNAL OF NORTH AFRICAN STUDIES Verso running head : B. ROMAGNY ET AL.